Rise of the Charismatic Megafauna

I currently run a social enterprise that delivers energy services to off-grid households in Ghana, and previously ran an organization providing innovative financing for household solar products in Ghana. My experiences have shown that social enterprise is well positioned to solve many of the world’s big problems such as poverty, because of an ability to combine a social mission with a financially sustainable business model that allows for rapid growth.

Unfortunately, I have also witnessed a more disturbing side of social enterprise: An increasing number are claiming success they have not achieved. Last year, for example, one CEO claimed that his enterprise sold 10,000 products, when I knew for a fact that it sold just over 1,000. The media picked up his comments as an example of the success social enterprise was having.

A few months later, on a different continent, I saw a press release triumphantly announcing that a joint venture between two social enterprises would reach millions. Yet when I asked the CEO of one of these companies if he really thought he could achieve this kind of impact, he replied: “We never thought we could hit that number. We are in the middle of raising some more money, and it was just a great time to get press.”

My business partner and good friend Nate Heller has a term for the kinds of organizations that call themselves social enterprises but rely on marketing spin, inflated numbers, and glossy presentations to hide failed (or complete lack of) business models: charismatic megafauna. In other words, sedate and slow moving, yet impressive and likable organizations akin to animals such as pandas and whales.

It’s easy to support charismatic megafauna. They are typically great storytellers. They invest in their social media presence, so people know who they are. Their founder is often embedded in the conference circuit. Their media-savvy allows them to generate awareness of the need for a different approach to any given problem. All of this is great, but unfortunately, generating awareness of a need is very different from meeting that need.

Organizations that are full of hot air exist in every industry, yet they are particularly harmful in social enterprises because the industry is still so young.

A 2010 report released by J.P Morgan suggested that social enterprise could represent an investment opportunity worth more than $1 trillion by 2020. The opportunity is huge, yet just three years later, a report from the recent World Economic Forum has hosed expectations of a social enterprise asset class:, “Less than $40 billion of capital is currently committed ... And while 80 percent of United States-based pension fund managers are familiar with the sector, only 9 percent felt that it is a viable investment approach.”

The stakes are high for social enterprise. The model is clearly still proving to investors and supporters that it can do good and make money. So every dollar invested in charismatic megafauana—every dollar intended to support the growth of a business model that can genuinely reach billions of underserved consumers, but that instead gets spent on pretty reports, conference tickets, and a bigger marketing team—is a dollar largely wasted.

At best, charismatic megafauna slow the progress of social enterprise, diverting resources from sounder and more promising organizations. At worst, they burn investors and disillusion supporters, and lead people to rightfully wonder what all the social enterprise hype is about.

And as the White House takes a bet on social enterprise, dedicating $300 million in its 2014 budget to the sector, the need for transparency and trustworthiness is greater than ever—lest the social enterprise model is discredited for good.

Hugh Whalan is an Australian who is based in Brooklyn and working in Africa. He founded and ran the first crowdfunding site for energy, and then built the fastest-growing solar distribution company in Ghana, which was recently acquired by Persistent Energy Partners.